National Geographic Society To Do Video Games
The successful science and educational organization The National Geographic Society, best known for their long-running magazine, has just made an interesting announcement. Their next venture in their for-profit operations is video games. This month, National Geographic Games, a newly formed division within the company, will launch three gaming products to be soon followed by another in December and three (so far) are planned for next year. The games will be developed for major gaming consoles, handhelds, and mobile platforms, including, yes, the iPhone.
There are few people out there who don't have fond memories of flipping through the pages of a National Geographic magazine, admiring the award-winning photography that graced its pages as our eyes widened to the wonders of the world around us. Since its launch in the "ancient" times of 1888, the world has gotten a lot smaller, figuratively speaking. Television, air travel, and, of course, the internet, have allowed us to explore much more of the world than ever before. To some extent, the information age has impacted, if not the magazine's sales themselves, the sense of wonder that was once to be had when perusing the magazine's articles and images.
To keep up with the changing times, the new National Geographic Games division (NGG), will attempt to connect with people once again on the platforms of our modern age, including the Wii, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, PC and Mac, the PS3 Network, and the iPhone. There will also be free Flash games online at nationalgeographic.com/channel. As always, the company's goal is to encourage people to explore their world, this time though, it's through play.
Lest you think these games will be wimpy attempts at educational experiences, it's worth nothing that Chris Mate, a former executive at Take2 Interactive, the company behind "Grand Theft Auto," will serve as VP and GM of the games venture. Hopefully, his history, which also includes Bethesda Softworks, will bring some spunk to the usually dry "learning is fun!" gaming experience.
The first game to launch will be "Herod's Lost Tomb," an online game which blends in content from both the December 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine as well as the National Geographic Channel feature broadcast on the biblical figure King Herod, architect of the ancient world.
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An old media icon gets smart by reaching out to new audiences: Kudos to National Geographic.
NG can leverage its vast archives of content to really infuse substance into this effort. It sounds like a winner from a marketing perspective and should also help generate revenue and "out of the box" thinking among its editorial staff to produce content suitable for print, online and gaming.
But will students still be able to sneak into the school library to view photos of naked pygmies? Or are they already seeing much better images online? Times have certainly changed. ;-)
Smart business decision by them because the gaming industry is bigger than ever and has become a booming industry in itself especially with in game advertising. But do you think they will be able to compete with the thousands of other titles, mainly full of blood, gore, sports, action? Do you know of any specific titles they are working on for the Xbox, Wii, and PS3?
Craig
https://www.budgetpulse.com//
I like this idea. It's interesting, and could provide some interesting games.
Maybe one where you can explore Egypt and battle grave robbers, or maybe a prehistoric mammoth hunting game.
Education is far more stimulating when it can be seen as fun. I think the National Geographic can really open up children's interest and fascination through these effective educational games
Times have certainly changed
It's interesting, it is doing as good as www.vistafeel.com
wel it's about time NatGeo entered the 21st . century . Perhaps some children will who would otherwise play other games that teach them nothing . My first gift to my grand children even before they can read themselves , is Nat Geo for kids. The parents read it to them.